Early in the session, I wrote about my disappointment with the State Board of Education and its debate over “strengths and weaknesses” of scientific theory. Unfortunately, this body continues to attract the kind of attention that I believe does an incredible disservice to the state of Texas and to my district. However, I believe that the Texas Senate has adopted a measure that does far worse.

Sen. Steve Ogden from Bryan is the chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Last week, Ogden inserted language into the Senate version of the budget that reads, “No funds appropriated under this act shall be used in conjunction with or to support research which involves the destruction of a human embryo.”

Much like the “strengths versus weaknesses” debate revolves around the teaching of evolution, this budget rider by Ogden is a direct attempt to ban embryonic stem cell research. With the large amount of attention that our education board has attracted, the lack of attention this issue has generated is interesting. Ogden, as chair of the Senate budget writing committee, is not someone to be trifled with during the legislative session. He wields a powerful role in crafting the state budget.

While I can respectfully disagree with the senator on policy, I do not think that this process is in the public’s best interest. “When a government makes financial decisions in the dark, hidden from the inquiring eyes of citizens, great harm can take root.” This quote by Gov. Rick Perry earlier in the week regarding transparency in state spending sums up the feelings of many who want to hear this issue discussed.

According to Harvey Kron-berg of The Quorum Report, Democratic and Republican members of the Senate were given 15 minutes to review riders before adopting the Finance Committee’s report. Patricia Kilday Hart of Texas Monthly, who closely follows Senate Finance proceedings, expressed her frustration at the proceedings when she noted that in the brief discussion of the rider, Chairman Ogden said, “Members, we have been discussing this privately.”

Ogden later responded to criticism in the Dallas Morning News, stating, “There is a significant moral concern amongst many Texans that a human embryo really meets every scientific definition of human life that’s out there and that we shouldn’t be using human embryos for scientific experiments.” While I may hold a different opinion, I would always give the senator an opportunity to make his case. I believe he does so quite well in Senate Bill 1695 rather than the rider he proposes in the budget that ends the debate without cross examining a single witness or taking input from the public.

Stem cell research reaches across party lines and labels. Many Republicans, including my colleagues Rep. Beverly Woolley of Houston, Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth and Rep. Rick Hardcastle of Vernon, are ardent stem cell supporters. Hardcastle, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, makes an articulate case about the importance of this medical research.

I have my own personal reason for supporting stem cell research. Aside from having the honor of representing the Texas Medical Center, my late husband would have been greatly helped by regenerative medicine. With a tumor on his spinal cord, Lyon was blessed to be treated by some of the best doctors in the world who helped extend his life. I believe stem cell research could have extended his life even further. Stem cell research offers hope to patients like him, along with juvenile diabetics, Parkinson’s patients and others suffering from traumatic spinal cord injuries.

Their stories, the stories of both pain and suffering along with hope and healing, are the ones on which we should base our decisions. Their stories cannot be told behind closed doors. They deserve to be heard, not just because of the process, but because senators and representatives benefit tremendously when the human faces help personify the real effects that policy has on everyday Texans.

The House has passed House Bill 772 that provides for every State Board of Education meeting to be broadcast over the Internet for all to see. I am very glad of the increased accessibility to their deliberations. The debate over stem cell research should be important enough for every member of both chambers to question, research and discuss while also hearing from the public. A budget rider, inserted as a sweeping policy, robs Texans of the fundamental right of participatory government.

I was sworn into the Texas House of Representatives four years to the day and hour of my husband’s death. I never received a vote from him for office, but I represent his story to this Legislature. On Lyon’s behalf and the millions of others like him, we must openly debate stem cell research.